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7 months ago

Report: Mueller Looking Into Brexit Backer’s Russian Communications

Special counsel Robert Mueller has reportedly obtained records of communications between a financier of Britain’s Brexit campaign and Russian diplomats, The New York Times reports. A watchdog report from Britain’s Information Commissioner’s Office alleged that an insurance company owned by Arron Banks—a prominent donor of the campaign for Britain to leave the European Union—broke British law when it shared “private email addresses” to pro-Brexit group Leave.EU before the 2016 referendum vote. The same report accuses former political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica of violating British law when it misused Facebook data to help President Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Banks was reportedly the “single largest donor to the Brexit campaign,” and London’s Russian Embassy was reportedly opening doors for Banks to engage in “lucrative investment opportunities” before the referendum vote. Banks’ involvement in Brexit and contacts with Russian diplomats have reportedly “raised questions about whether the Kremlin sought to reward important backers” of Brexit. The Times reports the commissioner did not find evidence that Cambridge Analytica was “secretly employed” by Leave.EU, or that the Brexit campaign exploited Cambridge Analytica's cache of stolen personal Facebook data.